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work /
Anton’s hand is made of guilt, no muscle or bone. He has two clinically depressed fingers and an angry thumb
This work-in-progress project, which has been in gestation since 2019 is based on a poignant and very personal story and experience: the death and disappearance of my close friend, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, during the 2011 Libyan war. Developed in Libya and neighbouring countries, this project responds to Anton Hammerl’s disappearance/death through a speculative examination of the circumstances surrounding his demise as well as a reflection on the decisive but paradoxical role that photography has played in conflict zones.
Drawing on the writings by Georges Didi-Huberman (Images in Spite of All) and Georges Perec (La Disparition), the project seeks to develop new representational techniques to interrogate conflict and enable innovative approaches to respond to war, photographic ethics, bereavement, trauma and missing persons.
Both Didi-Huberman and Perec’s writings are rooted in and confront the most disturbing historical realities: the disappearance/loss of a parent or a people during the Holocaust. Whilst each author addresses the notion of ‘unimaginable’ horror and loss in distinct ways, how we remember and imagine—how we use images and words and imbue them with the trace of lost lives is of paramount importance for both authors.
In my work reality and imagined reality collide overlap and blur. Through a meta-representational approach that looks beyond the referent – which I term ‘impossible document’ – the project seeks to develop a visual lexicon that can be used as a representational and pedagogic tool to interrogate conflict as well as the spectacle of photojournalism.
Like Perec and Didi-Huberman’s writings, this story too is warped by absences. It talks of the difficulty of documenting, testifying, witnessing, remembering, honouring and imagining in times of war and conflict.This project was developed with support from the Foundation for Sciences and Technology (Portugal) and the Archive of Modern Conflict.
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Decapitation
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The desert around Bani Waled, the site of NATO air strikes
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Militia hideout
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Militia hideout
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Abandoned regime compound
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This tree survived the massacre of Zliten
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Rebel
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Autopsy (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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This Oasis survived the battle of Sabhã
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Loyalist in bombed outpost
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Militia hideout
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Bombed rebel outpost
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Freedom fighter in Al-Jabal al-Akhdar, a forest surrounded by desert
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US Issue Naval Badge, 1986
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Desert storm in Brega
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Outskirts of Al-Khums
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This tree survived the 1st battle of Tripoli
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Freedom fighter
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Mosque in the desert
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Murder selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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Rebel
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Rebel
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Installation view of Rebels
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Rebels take shelter in Sidi Darghut
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Gaddafi loyalist in hiding
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Installation view of Gaddafi loyalist in hiding
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Training for war
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Training for war
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IED (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Mutilation caused by IED explosion (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Rebels in oil field
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Freedom fighter 2011
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Abandoned regime compound
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This weed survived the First Battle of Zawiya
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Freedom fighter in abandoned compound
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Example of torture games inflicted on political prisoners
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Casualty (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Freedom fighter in abandoned compound
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Freedom fighter in training
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This weed survived the Battle of Brega
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Al-Jabal al-Akhdar (outside Bayda), the killing site of mercenaries from Chad
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Casualty
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Casualty
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Randsacked compound
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Casualty
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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Abandoned regime compound
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Downtime in abandoned regime compound
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Abandoned regime compound with minaret in the background
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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Abandoned regime compound with minaret in the background
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Rebel in training
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This weed survived the Battle of Ajdabyia
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Call to prayer in bombed mosque
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War torn compound
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Rebel training site
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Militia hideout
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Pro-regime fighter
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Zliten massacre, where 85 civilians are purported to have been killed in NATO airstrikes
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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Libyan dissident in makeshift burka
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Libyan dissident in makeshift burka
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Libyan dissident in makeshift burka
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Installation view of Libyan dissident in makeshift burka
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Gaddafi televised speech
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Ransacked regime compound
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This bush survived the Second Battle of Brega
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Gaddafi loyalist propaganda
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Gaddafi loyalist propaganda
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Site of the battle of Sirte
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Abandoned regime compound
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Randsacked regime compound
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Rebel commander
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Freedom fighter in training
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This tree survived the battle of Sabhã
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US Amy Issue Target Poster, 1986
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US Amy Issue Target Poster, 1986
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Murder selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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This desert weed survived the Battle of Sirte
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Freedom fighter
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This palm tree survived the Battle of Ras Jedir
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Rebel
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Rebel
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Rebel
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Rebel
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Assassination (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Bin Jawad, where mass graves with 157 bodies were found
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Bin Jawad, where mass graves with 157 bodies were found
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Decapitation
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Installation view of Decapitation
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Benghazi salt flats
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Benghazi salt flats
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Decapitation on Salt Lake
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Installation view of Decapitation
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Kidnap (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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Murder selfie (archive photo from civilian mobile phone)
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This tree survived the Battle of Bin Jawad
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Fighter demonstrating dodging enemy fire, by tree that survived the Battle of Misrata
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Installation view of Fighter demonstrating being shot in the head
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Installation view of warfare techniques
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Gaddafi loyalist forum
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View Installation nr. 5 of exhibition